Thanksgiving 2020

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Thanksgiving was scaled back this year due to the pandemic. We often head out to visit Pete & family for the holiday but that was not to be this year. When we've been in town for the holiday over the last few years we've gone out to eat. Also, due to the fact Covid-19 cases are surging again we decided not to have Mom over. We did, however, run a care package to her after we finished our dinner today. 

The day melted away seemingly quite quickly due food prep here and there throughout. There was time in between for the scaled back Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. . .

...and a Bloody Mary. . .

...and the coloring of the turkey in the Star Tribune. 

We ate at 3:15. Dinner was awesome and we watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. 

After we ate we got Athena taken care of and then ran a care package over to Mom. She met us at the entry to her building with her mask on and seemed pretty excited to be getting delivery on Thanksgiving. She texted me that she was impressed with the amount of food. She also texted how delicious she though it was. Pictured above are Mom and I during a pre-pandemic Thanksgiving. I believe the photo was taken at Jax in 2015. 

Thanksgiving 2020 - The Turkey Rests

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Temperature taken. It's supposed to be 165. The thermometer in the photo is still registering. 

Athena took it all in with a great deal of interest. 

Thanksgiving 2020 -Turkey's Out

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Dale had put the turkey in the oven at noon and it came out at 2:00. As it rested he got the Brussels sprouts ready and took care of boiling off and mincing the giblets. 

We think the giblets are the liver, heart, and something else, not sure what. 

The were boiled for 45 minutes at the 4.5 setting on our stove. 

Dale basted the turkey with white wine this year. Usually we use red. 

Thanksgiving 2020 - Stuffing

Thursday, November 26, 2020

We usually do Stove Top for our stuffing. Kowalski's was out so I decided on a different option. 

I used Pepperidge Farm's Sage & Onion cubed stuffing and followed the directions on the back of the package. It really wasn't too much more difficult than Stove Top. The basic recipe calls for simply adding onion (I used green) and celery (two stalks worked fine). I used the stove top method. 

One suggested option was to add apple. I used Granny Smith. I did this in the last 20 minutes before we planned on serving everything up although I chopped the celery, green onion, and apple in advance. It all turned out great. 

Thanksgiving 2020 - Fruit Salad

Thursday, November 26, 2020

For the fruit salad I used two 15.25 oz. cans of Dole tropical fruit cocktail, drained. 

I used a small carton of whipping cream and combined it all together. 

It turned out great. Maybe next time I'll add some grapes and bananas like Grandma Alice did. 

Thanksgiving 2020 - Sweet Potato Casserole

Thursday, November 26, 2020

I used Princella canned sweet potatoes for the sweet potato casserole and referred to their website for a recipe. 

I halved the recipe but accidentally put two eggs in instead of one. I thought I had vanilla but didn't so I used falernum instead. I combined steps 2 and 3 and didn't use pecans. Next time I need to drain the canned sweet potatoes just a little more. It wasn't all that noticeable, but still. 

Thanksgiving 2020 - Turkey Prep

Thursday, November 26, 2020

This year's turkey was completely unfrozen. It sat in the sink only briefly before Dale rinsed it off. 

My job was to dry it off. 

 

I think I did a fine job. 

We had it transferred to it's baking pan by 10:30 a.m. Dale says it should set out until about noon. 

We threw the neck out but are holding on to the giblets for the gravy. Dale boiled these on medium low (4.0 on our stove) for 45 minutes.

Athena knows something's up. 

Thanksgiving Day 2020 - Cranberries

Thursday, November 26, 2020

We got the cranberries started first. 

12 oz. cranberries

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

Dale put the sugar and water in a sauce pan and dissolved the sugar by stirring it over medium heat (5.0 on our stove). He then added the cranberries and stirred them occasionally once they started popping, keeping them at medium. He took them off the heat after 10-15 minutes.